Wilson, Edmund, House
Why it's listed
Limestone quarried from the nearby Sugar River went into this farmhouse at Talcottville, in Lewis County, New York. Hezekiah Talcott began building it in 1789 and finished four years later, when the area was newly settled. The two-and-a-half-story main block is nearly square, three bays wide and four long, with a flattened gabled roof, four corner chimneys, Palladian windows in the gable ends, and a two-story porch across the facade. A small one-story wing extends at the rear, and a stone barn is the only surviving outbuilding. Inside, a central stairwell is flanked by front and rear rooms with carved mantels. The house is best known as the Stone House of writer Edmund Wilson, whose family used it as a summer home. Wilson rescued it from decay in middle age and made it his refuge until his death in 1972, and he described it in his book "Upstate." At the time of listing the house stood empty and deteriorating.
Significance in brief: The house was the summer home and refuge of Edmund Wilson (born 1895, died 1972), a leading 20th-century American man of letters, and is the house he made famous in his book "Upstate." It is also an attempt at an elegant Georgian mansion in a newly settled frontier area.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 73001198, listed November 26, 1973. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | S of Port Leyden off NY 12 on Talcottville Rd., Port Leyden |
|---|---|
| County | Lewis County |
| Listed | November 26, 1973 |
| Reference number | 73001198 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Hezekiah Talcott (builder, commenced 1789) |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| Areas of significance | Literature, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in fair condition; the house is empty and deteriorating, and its future is uncertain. |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Coordinates | 43.53482, -75.36608 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 73001198.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5339927
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.